


Need a Light

by sherstrader



Series: Need a Light [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Convenience Store, Alternate Universe - No Zombies, Crushes, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-08-09 11:50:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7800745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sherstrader/pseuds/sherstrader
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'“That’ll be $2.99 please.” Paul smiled at the young girl on the other side of the checkout, waiting for her to pass him the money. The door chimed, signalling that another customer had entered the store. Over her shoulder he saw <i>him<i>.'</i></i></p><p>  <i></i><br/><i></i><br/><b>Jesus has been crushing on the mysterious mechanic for ages, will he finally manage to ask him out?<b></b></b><br/><br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	Need a Light

“That’ll be $2.99 please.” Paul smiled at the young girl on the other side of the checkout, waiting for her to pass him the money. The door chimed, signalling that another customer had entered the store. Over her shoulder he saw _him _.__

___Him _, the man who came into the convenience store every day at 5:45pm, a scowl on his face and hands in his overall’s pockets. His unkempt brunette hair falling into his face as he walked past the bags of chips and candy bars, ignoring them. Some days he had a smear of oil on his face or neck. Jesus liked those days the most. He imagined the guy worked at a mechanic shop nearby, he imagined him undoing the popper buttons of his overalls when he got too hot. Broad, muscular shoulders on display as he bent over a car engine. Sweat slowly dripping down the small of his back and into the crack of his a-__ _ _

____“Umm…” A grunt broke Paul out of his fantasy and he realised the man he was thinking about was right in front of him, frowning at him like he had been doing something strange._ _ _ _

____“Oh!” Paul gasped, “sorry, I must have spaced out.” He paused, waiting for Sexy Overalls Man to smile or react. Nothing came, apart from squinting, questioning eyes pointed in his direction. He felt embarrassed. “H-how can I help you?”_ _ _ _

____“Uh, can I get 20 Morley Lights?” The man muttered, almost too quiet. If it hadn’t been the same thing he asked for every day, Jesus may have asked him to repeat himself._ _ _ _

____Jesus nodded and turned around to grab the item, hating that he had to peel his eyes away from the man for a moment._ _ _ _

____As he rung up the purchase, he decided to try and make conversation. He’d always been too nervous before, but he’d already embarrassed himself in front of Overalls today. No point in trying to retain his self respect now. “So, where do you work?”_ _ _ _

____The guy looked at him like he’d just spat in his face. “…Why?” He mumbled._ _ _ _

____Paul touched his hair nervously, before remembering it was tied in a bun above his head. His boss had asked him to start tying his hair up recently, he had hated it at first but was starting to get used to the look. “I dunno, you’re in here every day so… I’m guessing it’s near here?”_ _ _ _

____Overalls answered hesitantly. “Yep. Joe’s Auto Repair, a couple blocks from here.”_ _ _ _

____Jesus nodded. “Yeah, umm, my car’s a bit fucked up so I might make an appointment soon.” He lied, he didn’t have a car. He could barely pay rent for his apartment, of course he didn’t have a car. He motioned down at the cigarettes. “Is there anything else? With every purchase of a Big Gulp you can get a hotdog for $1.” He repeated for the 500th time that day._ _ _ _

____“Nah.”_ _ _ _

____The man paid and within seconds he’d seemed to stalk out of the store as quickly as he physically could. Jesus sighed and leaned against the counter behind him, feeling a rush of adrenaline. He had been psyching himself up to talking to Sexy Mechanic for weeks now. He looked around the store quickly, checking that the coast was clear before pulling out his phone and texting Glenn to let him know that he had finally spoken to his convenience store crush._ _ _ _

____It was three days later that he put a plan into action. Instead of taking his usual break at 9pm, half way through his shift, he decided he would take his break at 5.35. He got Rosita to cover him and went into the back room, taking his hair down and pulling on a beanie hat, before going to stand outside the front with a cigarette in his mouth._ _ _ _

____He didn’t even smoke, and hadn’t even touched pot in months as it was affecting his breathing during martial arts training. It felt good to breathe the smoke into his lungs, however. It calmed his nerves and gave him something to do with his hands. He wasn’t normally an anxious person but this crush had been steadily growing for over 4 months now. It was time to make a move._ _ _ _

____Just as he expected, as the little digital clock on his phone struck 5.44, he looked up and spotted the man of his dreams walking down the road towards him. Today his overalls were open, showing a grey tank top underneath. His hands were dirty with oil but looked like there had been an attempt to scrub them clean. His hair was ratty like he’d been working hard all day. Paul forgot to look away and accidentally caught the man’s eyes. He shifted his gaze quickly, cursing under his breath. Overalls Man walked right past him and into the store, not giving him another glance._ _ _ _

____Jesus let out the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. Planning out what he was going to say when his crush came back outside. He didn’t even know if they guy would pause for a moment before storming off, as he often did. The store was basically empty so a few minutes later he was back outside. Jesus tried not to look at him but when he saw that the man had stopped to take a cigarette out of the fresh packet. Once the Morley was in his mouth he started patting around all of his pockets and sighing as he couldn’t find his lighter. Jesus took this as a sign from God._ _ _ _

____“D-do you need a light?” Jesus asked, stepping closer._ _ _ _

____The man looked up, “uhh, yeah. Thanks.”_ _ _ _

____Jesus passed over his lighter and watched as the man lit his cigarette and inhaled deeply. He passed back the lighter and was about to walk away but Jesus spoke again first. “Hey, what’s your name?”_ _ _ _

____“Um, it’s Daryl.” He paused, “you work in there, right?” Daryl waved vaguely to the 7/11 behind them._ _ _ _

____“Yeah,” Paul laughed stiffly, “I’m Paul Rovia, but my friends call me Jesus.” He stuck out his hand to shake the man’s hand, cursing himself to hell internally. He felt so awkward._ _ _ _

____The man opposite him stared down at his hand for a second, before shaking it quickly and firmly, obviously weirded out by the situation. “Weren’t ya supposed to call up the repair shop to get your car fixed?” Daryl asked._ _ _ _

____Paul could feel himself getting red, “I, uh… don’t have a car. I’m a college student and I work at a 7/11, I could never afford a car. I can barely-” He shook his head, he could feel himself babbling and tried to get himself to stop. “I made it up, I guess.” He laughed, trying to look away from the curls of smoke that rose up from Daryl’s mouth._ _ _ _

____Daryl squinted at him, confused. “Why?”_ _ _ _

____“I wanted to have an excuse to talk to you, about something other than shitty in-store deals.” Jesus confessed. “I’ve been you almost every day for months and…” Jesus trailed off._ _ _ _

____Daryl nodded, it seemed like he understood what Jesus was implying_ _ _ _

____Jesus took a deep breath, “would you maybe wanna get a drink with me sometime?” He met the man’s eyes hopefully._ _ _ _

____Daryl looked like he was having some sort of internal conflict for a second, but soon responded with an “uh, sure.” They exchanged contact details and after Daryl had walked away Jesus floated back into the store with a shit-eating grin on his face. He was already planning what his first text to the man would be, and what he would wear on their possible date._ _ _ _


End file.
